Good luck trying to get one open, I don't know if it will last long or will open in California at all. Maybe if it was a K-pop themed cafe (since we're in a Korean Wave and K-pop is the latest trend after all) with pictures and wooden cutout of Girls Generation, 2NE1, BigBang, Super Junior, BoA, and other K-pop groups, that might work and can last longer depend on the hallyu. If this was the Japanese wave not the Korean wave, the maid cafe could've last in California for a long time.

This business owner in California better beware if he's going to bring a maid cafe to America. A lot of feminist groups are going to protest this thing if it ever opens. Groups like NOW (National Organization of Women) are going to say that this thing exploits women and they're going to try to get it shut down. Groups like this don't like Hooters. I don't eat at Hooters anyway,but they're going to do this anyway because they're going to see this as exploitative towards women. They'll also try to sue him. This guy had better get an army of lawyers.

Good luck trying to get one open, I don't know if it will last long or will open in California at all. Maybe if it was a K-pop themed cafe (since we're in a Korean Wave and K-pop is the latest trend after all) with pictures and wooden cutout of Girls Generation, 2NE1, BigBang, Super Junior, BoA, and other K-pop groups, that might work and can last longer depend on the hallyu. If this was the Japanese wave not the Korean wave, the maid cafe could've last in California for a long time.

What K-POP wave? Gangnam? I can't say this made K-Pop culture suddenly viable. Sure K-POP has been gaining some steam in the US over these past years(before Psy made his debut) but I can't say that its suddenly viable to the point where we start selling Kpop orientated goods to mainstream sheeple who love consuming everything Big Wall St corporations throw at them.

This is the wave of one man, Psy, who rightfully owned his phenomenon, not of an entire nation.

And yes, Maid Cafes could work in the US, provided they are in regions with mostly Asian-American communities. Reason being is because racism is still strong, sub-consciously, in the minds of many Americans.

Just last week, I went to Little Tokyo in LA to go shopping for some souvenirs for my sister's graduations. She's obviously a huge fan of anything Japanese so I'd thought we'd get her some things. When we arrived at a shop, what could be seen is a mother with her child and grandmother. The child was pointing at us(I was with my brother) and yeah, they were really surprised because they haven't gotten any non-Asian customers in a month. Additionally, what surprised them even more is that we didn't ask them if they "spoke English." They were courteous to us and so were we. They even explained how to use some of the things they sold(like those Light Lanterns) before we left the shop. It was a great experience and we will go again.

But yeah, Maid Cafes could work, but mostly with Asians, Anime/Manga fans, Open-minded folks, and Japan enthusiasts. But yeah, that's about it

Alexander55: No K-pop is more popular then you think just because they don't play Girls Generation on MTV doesn't equal it's not popular in the US. K-pop got popular thanks to K-dramas (hint: OST), Youtube (that and the US/western music have started to went downhill, there's only quite a few good artists left). Have you ever listen to K-pop songs from Girls Generation, Super Junior, BEAST, 2NE1, Big Bang?

K-pop is very mainstream in Mexico and South America (I've seen on Youtube that Mexican TVs have played K-pop music video, and Mexican radio have played K-pop songs over the air), and let's not forget K-dramas are popular in Mexico and all of Latin America, the same goes for Eastern Europe (where K-pop and K-drama are popular). As a matter of fact, I believe Girls Generation and Super Junior have huge fanbases all over the world. Super Junior not long ago did concerts in South America (which by the way sold out). So if a K-pop theme cafe was to open in South America, that would do very well. I still think a K-pop cafe could do well in the US better then a maid cafe, but yeah maybe open both of them in a Asian-American enclaves. But as I said, a K-pop themed cafe can do better then a maid cafe giving the Korean Wave.

K-pop has done a lot of thing J-pop has not like doing concerts in South America and Middle East (I never seen J-pop doing concerts in those 2 and I won't count Anime con), but hopefully J-pop could learn from K-pop and replicate the same success like K-pop outside of Asia, I do want to see AKB48 and EXILE to get the same level of popularity outside of Asia like Girls Generation and Super Junior.

There are K-pop artists beside Psy that could break into the western mainstream like Girls Generation, Wonder Girls, 2NE1, and BigBang. They all have potential and other K-pop could follow like 4minute, U-KISS, 2PM, etc...

Don't underestimate K-pop, because well South America, Middle East, Eastern Europe, and now western Europe like Germany, France, Spain, and now UK is starting to feel the effect of the Korean Wave. Last year in California, there was KCON, the first K-pop convention and that is significant in history of K-pop and Hallyu. Because the music coming out in the US is lacking good tune and have went downhill since 2007 and I just saw a lot of US/western artists not taking dancing choreography seriously, so this is giving K-pop a major advantage in the western world good singing, good tune, and dancing choreography that take dance up the next level.

As I said, if you read the article, previous attempt to open up maid cafe fail:

Quote:

Previous attempts at a maid café in North America include Detroit's Chou Anime Café, which opened in June but closed its doors in September when it failed to achieve a steady stream of customers. Chou Anime Café was briefly the only operating maid café in the United States, after California's Royal/T Maid Café closed its doors in August. Similar past attempts included Far Out Toys in San Jose, California and the iMaid Café in Scarborough, Ontario. The iMaid Café opened in 2006 and closed in 2007 due to unpaid back rent.

I think K-pop/hallyu themed cafe would work better because well Korean drama, Psy, also there are a lot of fans of K-pop artists like Girls Generation, Wonder Girls, Super Junior, etc... being more well-known and not niche unlike anime So I'm sure that cafe could do better.

This business owner in California better beware if he's going to bring a maid cafe to America. A lot of feminist groups are going to protest this thing if it ever opens. Groups like NOW (National Organization of Women) are going to say that this thing exploits women and they're going to try to get it shut down. Groups like this don't like Hooters. I don't eat at Hooters anyway,but they're going to do this anyway because they're going to see this as exploitative towards women. They'll also try to sue him. This guy had better get an army of lawyers.

Funny, I've not heard of any of the other maid cafes getting sued.

Also, I don't think it would work better in an Asian neighborhood, because there's nothing overly Asian about maid cafes, other than you find a lot in Japan.

You're correct, I never heard of maid cafe facing any scrutiny from women right group (not even in Japan). Also, as I said, maid cafe is not hot right now outside of Japan. But as I said, a K-pop themed cafe would work better due to the hallyu/Korean Wave and that include K-pop getting more higher profile due to PSY.

I think America is more about Hooters, or sexy revealing clothing as opposed to cute maids. But they could try. I'm definitely interested in experiencing it first hand, as opposed to just seeing them in anime or documentaries.

I dont think K-pop is relavent on scene in the US outside of music, im sure theres plenty of interesting stuff koreans have to offer but maid cafe's are sure to attract the otaku's, im sure as heck down.

the japanese anime culture is still more prevalent than k-pop will be for a long time.

I don't think K-pop is relavent on scene in the US outside of music, im sure theres plenty of interesting stuff koreans have to offer but maid cafe's are sure to attract the otaku's, im sure as heck down.

the japanese anime culture is still more prevalent than k-pop will be for a long time.

Yes but K-pop is getting more popular thanks to PSY and other thing (K-drama, and established K-pop artists like Girls Generation, Wonder Girls, and others having a big fanbases in the US), K-pop fanbases has grown a lot. I'm still not sure if the maid cafe would work or last long, but because of the Korean Wave it would be a nice opportunity to open up a K-pop themed Cafe and I think that would fare better since there are a lot of K-pop fans in California. Taiwan opened a Super Junior themed cafe and K-pop is getting more well-known and almost borderlining to mainstream level in Europe (like in France and UK), so a K-pop theme cafe could maybe opened up in Europe in the future.

If we were in a Japanese wave, then the maid cafe would be already be popular in the US.

You're correct, I never heard of maid cafe facing any scrutiny from women right group (not even in Japan). Also, as I said, maid cafe is not hot right now outside of Japan. But as I said, a K-pop themed cafe would work better due to the hallyu/Korean Wave and that include K-pop getting more higher profile due to PSY.

The only thing that your comments represent are BS fallacies fueled by opinionated disappointment that they are opening a Japanese Maid Cafe instead of a k-pop cafe (seriously, stop whining and get over it). You don't live in nor represent the neighborhood nor general area that this store will be in, nor do you represent the people who are within the target audience for this type of thing, so for you to act as if you do by making the blanket statement that people aren't interested in this is silly and makes you look like an idiot who is full of s&%t and has no idea what they are talking about.

In my personal opinion, I feel that Maidreamin opening up a store in Little Tokyo represents "the best possible chance" for a Maid Cafe to succeed in the US, due to the fact that it has every possible advantage that it could have to help it succeed (will be within a Japanese-American community that fans of Japanese and Otaku culture love to frequent, has a unique concept that sets it apart from other Maid Cafes (even within Japan), will be managed by individuals who have run maid cafes in Japan and have extensive knowledge in what works and what doesn't with regards to them, will be the most "authentic" Maid Cafe that has ever opened within the U.S., will be in a general area (L.A.) where individuals are used to and don't mind paying relatively high prices for good food, atmosphere, and entertainment, etc.). Ultimately, I am crossing my fingers for it to succeed and will visit the Little Tokyo store when it opens.

I recently asked my mother's opinion of a maid cafe in America. She'd never heard of it before I told her about it. She thought that it was demeaning to women. That's how many are going to see something like this. Feminist groups especially.
As for the possibility of K-pop cafe in America,there are a lot of Koreans who live in America. So,while something like this might give them a taste of home in this country,I don't know how they would appeal to anyone outside of the Korean community here. While K-pop might be appealing in Europe and South America,it's going to have to work a little harder to win fans here. Besides,I don't know how many Koreans live in South America and Europe.

You're correct, I never heard of maid cafe facing any scrutiny from women right group (not even in Japan). Also, as I said, maid cafe is not hot right now outside of Japan. But as I said, a K-pop themed cafe would work better due to the hallyu/Korean Wave and that include K-pop getting more higher profile due to PSY.

The only thing that your comments represent are BS fallacies fueled by opinionated disappointment that they are opening a Japanese Maid Cafe instead of a k-pop cafe (seriously, stop whining and get over it). You don't live in nor represent the neighborhood nor general area that this store will be in, nor do you represent the people who are within the target audience for this type of thing, so for you to act as if you do by making the blanket statement that people aren't interested in this is silly and makes you look like an idiot who is full of s&%t and has no idea what they are talking about.

Well do you listen to K-pop or know how big K-pop popularity is? Yeah that's what I thought, you have no idea. I already mention that K-pop is getting popular around the world. It has a big fanbases and I think it's big enough that a K-pop themed cafe could be made and it could last depend on the hallyu. I'm not even sure if a maid cafe could survive in this day and period because well it's not popular or hot outside of Japan.

Snomaster1 wrote:

As for the possibility of K-pop cafe in America,there are a lot of Koreans who live in America. So,while something like this might give them a taste of home in this country,I don't know how they would appeal to anyone outside of the Korean community here. While K-pop might be appealing in Europe and South America,it's going to have to work a little harder to win fans here. Besides,I don't know how many Koreans live in South America and Europe.

K-pop is popular not only to Korean/Asian Americans, it's getting more popular among non-Asian too. So a K-pop themed cafe could please to Asian and non-Asian fans of K-pop given how K-pop is getting bigger in the US. South America and Europe have Korean diaspora but not as big as Korean Americans in US, but yet K-pop is mainstream in South America and getting popular in Europe. K-pop is already mainstream in Mexico and South America after seeing how big the fanbases is down there. I already mention in one of my previous post that K-drama is very popular in Latin America and Mexico. K-pop music videos have been played in South American countries TV like Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru. Those 3 countries don't have Korean population yet K-pop is mainstream down there, so a K-pop themed cafe could do well in any South American countries. Even our next door Mexico has playedK-pop music on TV, and has played K-pop songs on radio. So a K-pop theme cafe could do well in Mexico, and that country have small Korean community. K-pop is already big in France and it's already becoming more well-known and borderlining mainstream in the UK given HMV (a well-known British music retailer store) is now starting to sell K-pop CDs and merchandise since 2011, so a K-pop theme cafe could do very well there. France and UK don't have big Korean communities yet K-pop is popular in those 2 places. You don't need a big Korean community to make a K-pop theme cafe, the fans is what make it last long. A maid cafe is not going to last long because well previous attempt to open and trying to keep a maid cafe to last long didn't really last long. A K-pop theme cafe could survive longer because of the K-pop popularity and the hallyu. If this was the Japanese wave not the Korean wave, the maid cafe would've been popular outside of Japan already.

You're correct, I never heard of maid cafe facing any scrutiny from women right group (not even in Japan). Also, as I said, maid cafe is not hot right now outside of Japan. But as I said, a K-pop themed cafe would work better due to the hallyu/Korean Wave and that include K-pop getting more higher profile due to PSY.

The only thing that your comments represent are BS fallacies fueled by opinionated disappointment that they are opening a Japanese Maid Cafe instead of a k-pop cafe (seriously, stop whining and get over it). You don't live in nor represent the neighborhood nor general area that this store will be in, nor do you represent the people who are within the target audience for this type of thing, so for you to act as if you do by making the blanket statement that people aren't interested in this is silly and makes you look like an idiot who is full of s&%t and has no idea what they are talking about.

In my personal opinion, I feel that Maidreamin opening up a store in Little Tokyo represents "the best possible chance" for a Maid Cafe to succeed in the US, due to the fact that it has every possible advantage that it could have to help it succeed (will be within a Japanese-American community that fans of Japanese and Otaku culture love to frequent, has a unique concept that sets it apart from other Maid Cafes (even within Japan), will be managed by individuals who have run maid cafes in Japan and have extensive knowledge in what works and what doesn't with regards to them, will be the most "authentic" Maid Cafe that has ever opened within the U.S., will be in a general area (L.A.) where individuals are used to and don't mind paying relatively high prices for good food, atmosphere, and entertainment, etc.). Ultimately, I am crossing my fingers for it to succeed and will visit the Little Tokyo store when it opens.

You are so uninformed that I had to make an account just to tell you why you're wrong. I'm a fan of both anime and kpop, although i listen to jpop more, but I won't deny that kpop and the korean wave is MUCH bigger at the moment. You obviously have no clue if you think Koreans are the only people who listen to kpop. As mdo7 noted, kpop/drama is getting huge in South America, Asia, and now Europe. Multiple acts have been holding huge concerts in sold out 40k+ stadiums all over the world, and if you actually looked at the vids/pics, you would notice that the majority are NOT korean. They're mostly whites, latinos, and other non-korean asians.

Just look at the youtube views as a very crude indicator. Even if you take out gangnam style (which didn't do much for the kpop wave imo), the most watched kpop vids are in the 100s of millions while you can't find any jpop/anime vid anywhere close to that. As much as I like anime, I have to admit that the korean wave is much stronger currently, and you are highly delusional or misinformed if you think kpop is some super niche culture that only koreans listen to. Just watch the kpop concert in paris last year, and you'll see majority white fans screaming in the stadium.

Well do you listen to K-pop or know how big K-pop popularity is? Yeah that's what I thought, you have no idea. I already mention that K-pop is getting popular around the world. It has a big fanbases and I think it's big enough that a K-pop themed cafe could be made and it could last depend on the hallyu. I'm not even sure if a maid cafe could survive in this day and period because well it's not popular or hot outside of Japan.

Your point about a k-pop cafe is moot because that is not what this company is opening up (sorry, better luck next time). Additionally, for you to make blanket assumptions about something that YOU clearly don't know or understand (ie: "maid cafes are not popular outside of Japan") while bashing me for "making assumptions" is pure hypocrisy and makes you look like a moron who is full of s*%t and has no idea what they are talking about (and probably has korean nationalist leanings).

qwerty1212 wrote:

You are so uninformed that I had to make an account just to tell you why you're wrong. I'm a fan of both anime and kpop, although i listen to jpop more, but I won't deny that kpop and the korean wave is MUCH bigger at the moment. You obviously have no clue if you think Koreans are the only people who listen to kpop. As mdo7 noted, kpop/drama is getting huge in South America, Asia, and now Europe. Multiple acts have been holding huge concerts in sold out 40k+ stadiums all over the world, and if you actually looked at the vids/pics, you would notice that the majority are NOT korean. They're mostly whites, latinos, and other non-korean asians.

Just look at the youtube views as a very crude indicator. Even if you take out gangnam style (which didn't do much for the kpop wave imo), the most watched kpop vids are in the 100s of millions while you can't find any jpop/anime vid anywhere close to that. As much as I like anime, I have to admit that the korean wave is much stronger currently, and you are highly delusional or misinformed if you think kpop is some super niche culture that only koreans listen to. Just watch the kpop concert in paris last year, and you'll see majority white fans screaming in the stadium.

1. I never said that k-pop wasn't popular or is only listened to by Koreans (that was a stupid assumption made by yourself and mdo7).

2. What is your point in relation to this news? How does saying that k-pop is popular prove that this Maid Cafe is not viable or that the community that will be hosting it would enjoy a "k-pop cafe" more (lol). The reality is that Little Tokyo is a place that is frequented by Otaku and people who love Japanese culture (there are Anime figure and cosplay shops that have been part of that community for years, which are consistently frequented by people who are not Japanese, nor live within the Little Tokyo itself (if you don't know that, you have either never been there, or are an incredibly inept individual). To say that there is no market for Maid Cafes in this area, regardless of this reality or the realities that I listed in my previous post (which you probably weren't able to read through your k-pop fan glasses and hurt feelings), is both ridiculous and reveals a lack of understanding on your part about the community that this store will be located within.

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